Airtel, Vodafone and Idea asked to abolish 3G roaming pacts

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the law Ministry and the Department of Telecom (DoT) have all come into agreement and have come down to a decision that roaming agreement among the telecom operators are in violation of the telecom licences.

The Telecom Ministry has therefore asked the telecom service providers to discontinue their 3G roaming agreements and is also planning on putting a fine for the same.

Operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had entered into agreement with one another to offer 3G mobile services in circles in which they could not succeed in getting spectrum in the auction held last year. Other service providers like Tata Teleservices and Aircel had also entered into similar agreements to offer services in six circles. However, they have already discontinued the arrangement.

“The decision has been taken that this (3G roaming pacts) is in violation of terms and conditions of the licence… will be issuing notices asking them (operators) to stop their service with immediate effect. But on penalty, no decision has been taken yet,” Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar told PTI.

So is this finally going to lead to a reduction in 3G tariffs? Let’s wait and watch…